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Adam Afriyie: blame me (and the other MPs) for tax avoiders

May 1 2012, 5:10pm, The Times

Adam Afriyie with his wife Tracy-Jane on their wedding dayCourtesy of Adam Afriyie

If there’s one man who won’t be taking part in any gratuitous bashing of tax avoiders, it is Adam Afriyie. Unlike the Chancellor, the Conservative MP for Windsor does not think tax avoiders are “morally repugnant”. Instead he places blame on the tax system, which is “all over the shop”. And if we want to stop seeing high earners get away with minimising their tax contributions, he says, it’s down to the Government to close the relevant loopholes.

“If there are a few hundred people who are — what’s the term? — ‘aggressively’ avoiding tax, they are not ‘morally repugnant’. The blame should fall firmly on our shoulders — the lawmakers — for allowing that behaviour to take place.